Help Making A Decision

Hi all! I totally new to this and would love any feedback possible! I finally was able to convince my Fiancé to have a destination wedding for next year. With how small our budget is of (8,000). We really are having a hard time locking down where to actually have the wedding. There are so many beautiful places and beautiful resorts its overwhelming! Our number 1 location is the Bahamas because its where we had our first anniversary. To keep to the budget we have heard that Mexico is a prime location to have a great wedding for about 40-50 people( I think more 40 will attend) . I’m not sure what is realistic. one of my bridesmaids just had her baby so by the time we travel her son will be 1 for next year. So I believe that sets us only with family friendly resorts? Am I correct? We would love an all-inclusive resort to have everything covered under 1 price for everyone. And a place that would offer a great wedding experience for the money. My friend is currently getting married at Dreams Riviera Maya and I just love what dreams offers, but the price tag on the resort is a bit steep and we’re concerned that we will get many declines because of the $$ just for the resort. So our locations are : Bahamas, Mexico, maybe Aruba , turks and…. LOL AHHH the list could just go on and on. If anyone has some input on resorts with great prices I would really appreciate it! Also any thoughts on the seasons? We’ve been reading about better deals for the fall months but does it rain a lot? Anyone had any experience with that? THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!!!!!

TA Wendy here! Just a quick suggestion, and if you like I am glad to do some more checking for you.. but if you like Dreams but find it a bit high for your guests, you might want to consider the Now properties, either Now Jade or Now Sapphire, both in Cancun/ Riviera Maya area. They are owned by the same company, AM resorts, and offer the same generous amenites offered for Bride and Groom by Dreams.

You are correct that the fall months would be in general at a lower price and also correct that this is the stormy season, but you could luck out and get no rain.. and actually October is a great time to go.. sort of a sweet spot for timing prior to higher prices closer to the holidays.

If you would like to chat, I am most happy to give you more ideas and assistance!

Welcome to the group! This is great place to gather information, it can also be overwhelming at first - so don't stress! I would definitely suggest talking with TA Wendy - she's great. I suggest you also start looking at the budget first thing. I thought a destination wedding would be so much cheaper and it's maybe not really... If you think about the experience you get (3-4 day with your guests or more vs 1 day) then its definitely cheaper, but total dollar amount maybe not... That said I am still so happy we chose to do a destination wedding. Your guest count will make a huge difference. Most resorts have wedding packages for 20-25 people, over that and you start paying per person costs that add up quickly. Also, spend some time thinking about who you really want to be there and if they can make it. Thankfully both of our immediate families are all coming, but we have less friends coming than we originally thought - which is fine with us, but I've seen lots of posts on here about wedding parties and family canceling near the end and that seems like a lot of added stress! Good luck with your search and congrats!

Tracy i really apperciate your input. I had no idea addtional people over the 20-25 would cost us more. that is a bit discouraging. I thought this would be the best bet for it to be afforable. and be able to get a honey moon out of it aswell. I sent a message to Wendy and hopefully she can help clear things out. Question - did you send out invites prior to locking a resort? and then booked with a confirmed number. Or did you lock in a resort and send out the invites after ? We both have big families so this was a major reason to go away to try and just narrow it down to who we really wanted. But we have alot of friends that all love and care for us. They truly are our family away from acual family.

@racht33 lock down your resort and date before invites. What we did is spread through word-of-mouth about our destination wedding and by the time invites went out we already pretty much knew who was coming. There were a few surprises on the yes and no ends, but overall we pretty much knew who would be coming.

I am getting married at Dreams Riviera Cancun in 2 weeks, and yes, the price tag is steep. There are so many resorts down the Riviera at all different price points - You should be able to find one that fits your budget. Also like someone said before, my package includes up to 20 people, everyone over that is additional. Destination does not always mean cheaper. And these resorts nickel and dime for every detail. I hope you find what you are looking for, and best of luck!@racht33 also about the rain, it is unpredictable of course being in a tropical climate, but the heaviest chance for rain is in the fall. Every time I've gone to Mexico (12 times) has been in the winter January or February and we've probably total had two days of rain out of all those times. We went in September for our site visit, and out of five days we only had two that were sunny. The prices are cheaper in the fall, but there's a good chance that you could have rain on your day.

@nattiegams325 thank you so much for your feedback. That is a major worry of mine. To have everyone travel to such a beautiful location and not beable to do anything because its pouring the entire time. Im not sure about the risk on that. AHH so many things to think over. I also wanted to go this route not just for it to be "more afforable" as it seems it possibly may not. But also its suppose to be less stress..How do you feel about that aspect ? Good Luck with your wedding!! Its crunch time and i know you much be super excited!!!

When it comes to stress, I actually found that the most stressful part was choosing the resort. I literally knew every single hotel in the Riviera Maya like the back of my hand from all the research I did lol. Seriously, it got weird. :-) but once you get the resort, everything just kind of falls into place.

You actually don't really do much planning until about three months before the wedding. So for the eight months or so before I officially started planning, I did things at home like the invitations, my dress, and tons of idea planning on Pinterest and photography sites and these forums!

We went for our site visit in September, if you can find it in your budget to go, I really recommend it. I feel like because we met our wedding planner in advance, she is being extra helpful. Plus then you can get a tour, do a tasting, and start making some decisions. So for stress, I found that it kind of came in waves..high stress in the beginning then nothing. Then high stress during invitation printing and dress finding, then nothing for a few months again. My last major stressor was going back-and-forth with the official planning form - so many decisions that I became really overwhelmed. But now that that's done I'm not even nervous!

Don't hesitate with any questions, I asked so many during my planning and the girls in this community are so helpful, it's only right that I return the favor :-) especially when I get back at the end of the month, I'll be right back on these forums helping out all my future brides again :-)

@racht33 - Good luck with your decision! I agree with @nattiegams325 that choosing the resort is probably one of the most difficult decisions in regards to a destination wedding. I am big on research, so I spent a lot of time picking apart the resorts we were interested in. Also, as was previously mentioned, many resorts charge a per person fee because only a certain number of guests are covered in the initial wedding package (usually 20-25).

In general (just from my own non-wedding related travel & planning), I think you will find Punta Cana and Mexico have a wider variety of resort options and more less expensive options that might fit your budget. Aruba is one of my favorite places, but it is pricey. Turks & Caicos is also more expensive.